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The Hero’s Journey: Part 3

Crossing The Threshold

Now that the hero has received the call, he or she must step into the new world. This means Crossing The Threshold. This is often comes in the form of a task or a symbolic transition. Sometimes the Threshold is accompanied by guardians. These guardians help make sure the hero is ready for the adventure ahead.

Harry Potter crosses from the Muggle World to the Magic World at platform nine and three quarters. Frodo crosses the threshold when he leaves the Shire. He and Samwise pause to note the significance. Princess Diana crossed when she married Prince Charles. The media acted as guardians of the threshold for her. She survived the scrutiny and became a princess and hero.

Our fifth grader crosses the threshold when she gets through the first few days of sixth grade. She gets an idea of the way middle school works and some of her new teachers act as guardians. The college student returns to school after the summer and steps into a new world of learning. He finds a new “crowd” who become the guardians, making sure he is ready to be part of it. The teacher steps into the new world created by the new principal who acts as the guardian, helping the teacher get ready. The office slave, now entrepreneur, must give up the steady income and start the business. This is a classic succeed or fail test.